Posted by Jay Bertolet on September 24, 2001 at 08:38:56:
In Reply to: Re: New York Phil on PBS posted by js on September 23, 2001 at 21:01:15:
This is absolutely true. I personally know of two cases where professional symphony musicians had Bell's Palsy and recovered completely. One of them, a prominent principal oboist of a major symphony orchestra, had it just last year. He missed a little over 1 month of the season. He now sounds just as good as ever (that's saying quite a bit in his case, he was the first or second runner-up for the Chicago Symphony principal oboe job a few years ago).
The straight medical scoop on Bell's Palsy is that it is a virus. In other words, it is like a cold. You catch it, it runs its course, then you recover. Like any virus, the issue is not beating it because we can't really kill most viruses. You treat the symptoms and then you're fine after it has run its course. The issue for musicians that catch Bell's Palsy is that in some cases, the virus does permanent damage to the nerves infected, thus disabling the player's playing skills. However, according to the doctor, this is pretty rare. Most folks recover completely though the time to full recovery varies.
To those who posted rumors regarding Warren's medical condition: Be Ashamed! You have no firsthand knowledge of the situation and such rumor mongering is contemptible. It is really a sad state of affairs when players don't respect the privacy of other players WITHIN THEIR OWN FIELD. I would think that anyone in the tuba field would at the very least understand and respect the privacy and reputation of their fellow colleagues. Perhaps I assume too much in thinking that those posting such rumors will one day be colleagues.
My opinion for what it's worth...